Ada Palmer
Person on 4 sites
Historian of the Renaissance at the University of Chicago and science-fiction novelist, author of Terra Ignota and Inventing the Renaissance
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6 facts on wiqqi (opens wiqqi.app)
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Updated 2026-10-31 -
2 channels on ppll (opens ppll.app)
Where public figures publish, and what they are on record saying.
Updated 2026-10-21 -
37 beliefs on korrents (opens korrents.com)
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A government only has legitimacy through long continuity, and once that thread is cut one regime change reliably becomes five. (opens korrents.com)
“When you break that, when you overthrow the ruler, when you dissolve the republic, when you put in a new thing, it doesn't have that same staying power. And so, it's very common when there's one regime change for there…”
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The papacy made Italy uniquely unstable in Europe, because each new pope inherited a precedent that he could overthrow any government he liked. (opens korrents.com)
“And soon we have a precedent that every new pope feels he has the authority to knock down every pawn upon the chessboard if he feels like it. Once that is the norm, even a fairly nice pope still inherits the idea that…”
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The moral Machiavelli draws from the Borgias is that we should imitate them: they fell to fortune, not to their choices. (opens korrents.com)
“They fell because half of what happens in the world is never in our control. And you can do everything right and it's out of your control, but we have to evaluate what would have happened and therefore we should…”
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A government only has legitimacy through long continuity, and once that thread is cut one regime change reliably becomes five. (opens korrents.com)
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10 recommendations on rcmnd (opens rcmnd.app)
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Clerical Households in Late Medieval Italy (opens rcmnd.app)
“Book cover of Roisin Cossar's brilliant book "Clerical Households in Late Medieval Italy." It's packed with fantastic stories about efforts to enforce clerical celibacy, and the myriad people who flouted them!”
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Forbidden Friendships: Homosexuality and Male Culture in Renaissance Florence (opens rcmnd.app)
“My friend Michael Roche's brilliant book "Forbidden Friendships" shows how 40% to 60% of Florence's male population was indicted for sodomy (a capital offense!) at some point in their lives, yet practically all…”
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The Renaissance in Italy: A Social and Cultural History of the Renaissance (opens rcmnd.app)
“It's hard to express how good this book is — comprehensive, well written, illuminating and thought provoking on both small and large points.”
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Clerical Households in Late Medieval Italy (opens rcmnd.app)